Toronto Palestine Film Festival

A State of Passion w/ Lulu

Available in 32d 10h 25m 16s
Available September 28, 2025 9:30 PM UTC
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After 43 horrific days working round the clock under constant bombardment in the emergency rooms of Gaza’s Al Shifa and Al Ahli hospitals, British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, emerged to find himself as a face of Palestinian resistance.


With news footage of him pale and shell-shocked reverberating around the world, he spoke of a catalogue of horrors from lacerated bodies, to amputations without anesthetics, orphaned children with no surviving family, and the deliberate targeting of medics and hospital facilities.


This was Ghassan’s sixth and most horrific Gaza “war”. Why does he do it? Where does he find the strength to face it again and again? How does it impact his family? How do they process the risks he takes? The answer lies simply in their shared passion: Palestine, a passion they articulate through their support of his perilous humanitarian work.


Filmmakers Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi, close friends of the Abu Sittahs, share that same passion. They were waiting anxiously for Ghassan to emerge from Gaza, following a long and terrifying journey through the night, to meet him in Amman. Determined to capture his raw emotions they began filming him the moment he arrived through the door. Following him to Beirut, Amman, London, Kuwait and Dubai, they and he explore their common State of Passion.

  • Year
    2024
  • Runtime
    90 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    Lebanon, Jordan, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Palestine
  • Premiere
    Canada
  • Genre
    Documentary
  • Subtitle Language
    Arabic
  • Awards
    Cairo Int'l Film Fest 2024: Best Arab Film; Cairo Int'l Film Fest 2024: Jury's Award for Best Documentary; Cairo Int'l Film Fest 2024: Silver Prize Best Palestinian Film; KARAMA Human Rights Film Fest (Amman): Audience Award for Best Film
  • Director
    Carol Mansour & Muna Khalidi
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